Finland increasing its exports to Turkey
Finnish exports to Turkey have increased by a third during the first part of the year, and foreign investments to Turkey have exceeded five million US Dollars this year, Finland’s Ambassador to Turkey Maria Serenius reported in a seminar organised by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Friday 25 November.
According to Serenius, the Finns are highly regarded in Turkey, which is largely based on the Turkish belief that the Finnish and the Turkish people are related.
Furthermore, according to Serenius, the Turkish political elite may feel more sympathy for Finland also for the reason that it was in the Helsinki Summit in December 1999 where Turkey’s candidacy for EU membership was confirmed.
"Enlargement Commissioner Rehn is a highly esteemed person in Turkey. His line of policy has been direct, clear and strict, but also very reliable," Serenius praised in the Foreign Ministry’s seminar on Turkey, which on Friday, 25 November, attracted more than seventy participants, for instance, from different companies and the media.
In spite of the warm relations, Finland has remained only a marginal foreign trading partner for Turkey. Germany is by far Turkey’s biggest trading partner both in exports and imports. Finland’s share of Turkey’s export and import trade remains well under one percent.
Finnish exports to Turkey are clearly bigger than the imports, but the money flow is balanced by the flourishing tourist trade that attracts approximately 100,000 Finnish travellers this year.
In all, there are about 200 Finnish companies that have representation in Turkey. It may be a good idea to have presence in Turkey also because Turkey offers a route of access into the great markets of all the ’-stan’ countries in Central Asia.
"There are 280 million people speaking Turkish-related languages living in the area between the Bosporus and China," Serenius remarks.